if the draw were seeded per these rankings, UVA would be celebrating with champagne on making the finals right now automatically

but they won't be that lucky

other half would have 1 UCLA v 8/9 Duke, 4 USC v 5 OSU

and they'd get to join an easy SEC lovefest with Mississippi in quarters who can't even make quarters of their conf tournament, then winner of two other SEC teams in semis...they might be able to rest their top 3 til the semis

Noticed that Bama barely squeaked through with a winning record. What's the deal now, you need to be at least .500 in duals including conference tournament results? When did they initiate that rule?

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New rule this year. It was a really smart one. That's why you may have noticed a number of ranked teams add mid and late season matches to their schedules against unranked teams to pad their wins. I heard the rule was put in place to keep out teams with a losing record (SEC teams). But as with many rules, if there's a loophole, it will be found.

New rule this year. It was a really smart one. That's why you may have noticed a number of ranked teams add mid and late season matches to their schedules against unranked teams to pad their wins. I heard the rule was put in place to keep out teams with a losing record (SEC teams). But as with many rules, if there's a loophole, it will be found.

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I would expect the inmates to change that rule for next year, in regards to scheduling matches in the last 3rd of the season. Hilarious to see so many major conference schools rushing out to play SWAC schools in double-headers and in one case triple header trying to pad their records even though it does not help their rankings.

wow the ITA computers are now as bad as the BCS computers. UCLA jumps UVA, who is undefeated!! What _ _ _ _'N Joke.
As for the SEC rankings!! Good grief.

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I completely agree that UVA should have been seeded No. 1 and are the best team. But, the ITA computers actually aren't that crazy, IMO. We all know the formula. UCLA is No. 1 because their resume of wins/losses is, based on that formula, better than UVA's. It's really not a judgment of UCLA being better than UVA, it's just the inevitable result of adding up the numbers.

What's a joke is that the selection committee doesn't use the rankings as a guide and generally follow them, but then make common-sense adjustments as necessary. But, then you'd have people harping about the committee's subjective bias.

Regardless, it all sort of worked out brilliantly for UVA with UCLA, USC, OSU on the opposite half.

I completely agree that UVA should have been seeded No. 1 and are the best team. But, the ITA computers actually aren't that crazy, IMO. We all know the formula. UCLA is No. 1 because their resume of wins/losses is, based on that formula, better than UVA's. It's really not a judgment of UCLA being better than UVA, it's just the inevitable result of adding up the numbers.

What's a joke is that the selection committee doesn't use the rankings as a guide and generally follow them, but then make common-sense adjustments as necessary. But, then you'd have people harping about the committee's subjective bias.

Regardless, it all sort of worked out brilliantly for UVA with UCLA, USC, OSU on the opposite half.

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exactly!!!

also when uva was ranked #1 they had the curse, but now at #2 they have less pressure IMO :twisted:

Based on these final rankings, for what its worth, Memphis is most improved, hands down.

Someone position WF for this earlier.

....I take it math was not one of your better subjects. Memphis moved from 35 in 2012 to 20 in 2013, Wake Forest moved from 69 in 2012 to 19 in 2013....seems pretty clear to me who the most improved was

Interesting to go back and look at the initial freshmen/newcomer rankings that came out at the start of the year to see how they performed.

Rank Player School

1. Michael Redlicki - Duke - 19-7 record primarily at #3. Very solid year.
2. Bruno Semenzato - Duke - 3-3 record at the bottom 3 spots. Definitely did not live up to #2 ranking.
3. Leonard Stakhovsky - Oklahoma - 10-10 record at 5 and 6. Didn't live up to #3 billing.
4. Shane Vinsant - Texas A&M - 20-8 record primarily at 4. 14-9 at #2 dubs. Very nice year.
5. Dragos Dima - Cornell - 5-3 record in the fall but didn't play in spring.
6. Ben Wagland - Georgia - 18-4 record at 1, 2, 3 & 4. Started the year at 4 and finished at 1. Made Quarters in dubs at NCAAs. Very nice year.
7. Axel Alvarez - Oklahoma - 20-6 at 3 and 4. Very solid year.
8. Pedro Dumont - Miss St - 15-5 record with most action at 6. Very solid contribution.
9. Julian Lenz - Baylor - 16-5 record at 1, 2, and 3. Lived up to the hype.
10. Boris Arias - LSU - 9-6 record at 5 & 6. No really great wins.

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Very nice breakdown Top Dawg!
Was wondering about the other top Freshmen, Boegerts, Efferding, Hitzlik, Giron, Styslinger, etc. and how they were projected/ranked by ITA?

Re. the OSU Rola and Kobelt pro-tential, Right now Kobelt because of length and power generated on serve has the best game for grass and indoor venue, but Rola is uber talented.
I have watched Blaz the last 3 years and many comparisons have been floated, Andy Murray, Berdych, even Stephen Edberg.
Tucker has been wonderful for both of these student athletes tennis development, especially Rola's power and fitness and Kobelt's ground game.

Interesting to go back and look at the initial freshmen/newcomer rankings that came out at the start of the year to see how they performed.

Rank Player School

1. Michael Redlicki - Duke - 19-7 record primarily at #3. Very solid year.
2. Bruno Semenzato - Duke - 3-3 record at the bottom 3 spots. Definitely did not live up to #2 ranking.
3. Leonard Stakhovsky - Oklahoma - 10-10 record at 5 and 6. Didn't live up to #3 billing.
4. Shane Vinsant - Texas A&M - 20-8 record primarily at 4. 14-9 at #2 dubs. Very nice year.
5. Dragos Dima - Cornell - 5-3 record in the fall but didn't play in spring.
6. Ben Wagland - Georgia - 18-4 record at 1, 2, 3 & 4. Started the year at 4 and finished at 1. Made Quarters in dubs at NCAAs. Very nice year.
7. Axel Alvarez - Oklahoma - 20-6 at 3 and 4. Very solid year.
8. Pedro Dumont - Miss St - 15-5 record with most action at 6. Very solid contribution.
9. Julian Lenz - Baylor - 16-5 record at 1, 2, and 3. Lived up to the hype.
10. Boris Arias - LSU - 9-6 record at 5 & 6. No really great wins.

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I had the best domestic recruits who did not turn pro pegged at the start of the season as Redlicki, Hiltzik, and Styslinger, in uncertain order. That seems like a good selection in hindsight. I would put Vinsant right behind them. The ITA list seems slanted towards overseas recruits, many of whom did not perform as well as these four domestic recruits, yet Hiltzik and Styslinger did not make the list.

It often turns out to be an apples vs. oranges comparison to look at junior ITF rankings and compare to top American blue chips at TRN. Numbers 2, 3, 5, and 10 on the list certainly were not better than Hiltzik and Styslinger.

NOTE: My original classification of the elite American recruits included two who turned pro, Bjorn Fratangelo and Mitchell Krueger.

Based on these final rankings, for what its worth, Memphis is most improved, hands down.

Someone position WF for this earlier.

....I take it math was not one of your better subjects. Memphis moved from 35 in 2012 to 20 in 2013, Wake Forest moved from 69 in 2012 to 19 in 2013....seems pretty clear to me who the most improved was

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I made my assessment without consulting the previous years rankings knowing I was at risk. Thanks for the kind words. Making the vault from the Cusa vs the ACC I stand by my assertion. Memphis tennis vs Wake Forest tennis, are you kidding?

I had the best domestic recruits who did not turn pro pegged at the start of the season as Redlicki, Hiltzik, and Styslinger, in uncertain order. That seems like a good selection in hindsight. I would put Vinsant right behind them. The ITA list seems slanted towards overseas recruits, many of whom did not perform as well as these four domestic recruits, yet Hiltzik and Styslinger did not make the list.

It often turns out to be an apples vs. oranges comparison to look at junior ITF rankings and compare to top American blue chips at TRN. Numbers 2, 3, 5, and 10 on the list certainly were not better than Hiltzik and Styslinger.

NOTE: My original classification of the elite American recruits included two who turned pro, Bjorn Fratangelo and Mitchell Krueger.

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Hard not to go with Styslinger as the best American freshman after the year he had. Difficult to compare hiltzik and redlicki because Hiltzik played higher, which definitely helped his ranking, but for a worse team. Redlicki looks to be the better doubles player. I'd say these three Americans plus Wagland and Lenz are the best 5 freshmen of the year with Llamas just missing the cut.

Hard not to go with Styslinger as the best American freshman after the year he had. Difficult to compare hiltzik and redlicki because Hiltzik played higher, which definitely helped his ranking, but for a worse team. Redlicki looks to be the better doubles player. I'd say these three Americans plus Wagland and Lenz are the best 5 freshmen of the year with Llamas just missing the cut.

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As a UVa fan, I am pleased with Styslinger, but Hiltzik was the only player to beat Blaz Rola this spring, I believe. Redlicki ran into the freshman wall and ran out of gas at the end of the season, but he did a pretty good job at #3 all year on a good roster, playing ahead of Mengel and Hemmeler and Tahir. I've got to respect all three of those guys this year. Their second years will be interesting.

will be interesting to see who gets booted out of the lineup by semenzato

i think they'll do a good bit of shuffling during the season and ultimately hemmeler will be focusing on dubs later in the year...maybe a chance that semenzato doesn't adjust to the college game quickly as well, always tough to tell until they play some big dual matches...i just have a hard time seeing tahir on the outside of the singles lineup considering the way he has stepped up with some bigtime results in the past 6 months

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This is how we all felt at the beginning of the year about Duke. It turned out that Semenzato did not boot anyone out of the lineup. Had he been good enough to do so, he could have played at least whenever anyone else was not 100% (which occurs for every team several times a season, and Duke had players like Mengel missing from the lineup at times as late as the NCAA tournament).

A lot of college players make their biggest improvement from freshman season to sophomore season. It will be interesting to see how Semenzato does next year. As a UVa fan, I am just glad that any stellar college career he might have did not coincide with Cunha still being at Duke.

EDIT: Ditto for watching the improvement from first year to second year of Redlicki.